Court of Cassation Ruling on Article 14 of the Civil Code

Extract

[...] Admitting the application of Article 14 CC would mean to subordinate the collective interest to a private interest, by giving precedence to the creditor's French ambitions of payment over the need to save, albeit in vain, the Lebanese company. However, the primacy of social interest may be surprising. In fact, the Court of Cassation affirms it by relying on provisions from Book VI of the Commercial Code. However, these are regulatory provisions, whereas Article 14 CC is a legislative provision. Thus, according to the hierarchy of norms, the Court of Cassation should have declared itself competent under Article 14 CC. [...]

[...] Thus, although Article 14 of the Civil Code allows any French national creditor to bring a foreign defendant before a French court, the collective procedure exceeds 'the sole individual interest' of the creditor, so that the aforementioned article is inapplicable, due to the foreign company lacking sufficient links with France. It will be necessary to focus on the delimitation of the scope of application of Article 14 CC then on the receding of the nationality criterion in favor of territorial attachment (II.). I. The delimitation of the scope of application of Article 14 of the Civil Code A. A general jurisdiction privilege Article 14 CC allows any French plaintiff to request the jurisdiction of French courts in the event of a dispute with a foreign defendant. [...]

[...] This is what the Court of Cassation recalls by stating that Article 14 of the Civil Code 'allows a French person to bring a foreigner before the French courts'. But this provision is contrary to the predictability of the law for the foreign defendant, who probably does not know French law, and therefore to the right to a fair trial. The High Court also reaffirms and above all that in principle, Article 14 CC has a general scope. That is to say, in principle, the French plaintiff can invoke the privilege of jurisdiction in all matters of law. [...]

[...] Court of Cassation, Commercial Chamber, June No. 22-16.626 - Is Article 14 of the Civil Code applicable when a French person requests the opening of a collective procedure against a foreign company having no establishment or interest in France? Com., June No. 22-16.626 The judgment rendered on June by the Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation is about the scope of application of the jurisdiction privilege granted by Article 14 of the Civil Code to the French national applicant. [...]

[...] However, the High Court recalls that the purpose of a collective procedure 'exceeds the sole individual interest' of the creditor. The objective of a collective procedure is either to restore the struggling company in an attempt to save it, or to liquidate it, certainly to pay the creditors, but also so that it does not contract new debts that would worsen its situation. Thus, the collective procedure has the purpose of achieving the objectives provided for in Book IV of the Commercial Code. [...]